


Big Girls

by writetherest



Category: The Devil Wears Prada
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-12
Updated: 2013-08-12
Packaged: 2017-12-23 06:35:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/923140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writetherest/pseuds/writetherest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Ok. You guys don’t like me. You don’t want me to date your mother. But I care about her, and I want to date her. So… how about a little competition?</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Big Girls

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by a short film named _Big Girl_ , although I changed the ending.

It was not, Andy knew, the best first meeting of one’s lover’s children. She was also pretty sure it wasn’t the worst in history. But it hadn’t been very good. Of course the girls already knew her as ‘Mom’s ex-assistant’, so that could have added to the weirdness. And then there was the fact that she was a woman, while their mother had, up to that point, always dated men. Andy understood why the twins would be hesitant or weirded out.

Still, she couldn’t pretend it didn’t hurt when both girls had looked her up and down and then pronounced at the same time, “We don’t like her.”

She wanted to interrupt, to say that she was the one that had gotten them the Harry Potter manuscript, and didn’t that count for anything? Instead, she stayed quiet and forced a smile, waiting to see what Miranda would say.

“Girls, Andrea is…” Whatever else Miranda was going to say was cut off by the ringing of her phone. She took the call and Andy listened as Miranda grew livid at what she was hearing. It was obvious that her lover would need to leave to go to Runway. Andy was thankful that she no longer had to pull all nighters when things went wrong. She still pulled all nighters at The Mirror, but they were pieces of cake compared to Runway all nighters.

“I have to go to Runway.” Miranda announced when she shut the phone, to the surprise of no one in the room. “Which means that since Cara is already gone, you two will have to go with me.”

“What? No. Mom, come on!” The girls argued. “We can stay by ourselves. We’re fine.”

“No. Absolutely not. You’ll have to come with me. I will have Emily set up one of the conference rooms for you. If it gets too late, she can bring cots as well.”

“This sucks!” Caroline hissed.

“Caroline Olivia Priestly –“ Miranda started.

Andy cleared her throat. “Um, I could stay with the girls. Until you get home.”

Both red heads swung to look at her. “No.”

Miranda was looking at her as though she had grown a third head. “Andrea.”

“I don’t have anywhere to be tonight. I was planning on dinner with you guys. If it gets to be too late, I can always use your computer to do some of my work, but there’s nothing pressing tonight that I have to have done. This way the girls won’t have to go to Runway with you. They can stay here.”

“We don’t want to stay with you!” Caroline hissed.

“Well, either you stay with Andrea, or you come to Runway with me. Those are your choices.”

“We’ll go to Run-“ Caroline didn’t get to finish her sentence because Cassidy grabbed her arm roughly and started whispering to her. After a few moments of this, Caroline’s shoulders slumped slightly.

“Oh, fine, whatever. We’ll stay with Andy.”

Miranda looked the girls up and down. “You are to be on your best behavior tonight. If I hear from Andrea that you did anything that was in any way disrespectful…” She let her voice trail off, the threat unspoken but understood.

“Yes Mom.” Both girls answered in unison. Miranda nodded once, then turned to look at Andy. “Thank you.”

Andy leaned forward and kissed Miranda quickly. Both girls grimaced. “No problem. I’ll see you later. Try to keep the bloodshed to a minimum.” She offered a quick wink and Miranda smiled briefly before breezing out the door.

Andy watched her go and then turned to the twins. “So, what’s for dinner?”

**

Dinner was quiet and awkward, but the meal was delicious. Caroline and Cassidy made it a point not to speak, or even look at her, while they ate. Andy tried to broach conversation with them, but they studiously ignored her and finally she got tired of trying. She could practically feel the hatred wafting off them in waves.

Finally, once they had all eaten everything on their plates, she gathered them and put them in the sink. “You know, I understand that this is difficult for you guys, but I really care about your mom so…”

Cassidy laughed. “Sure you do.”

“I do.” Andy said again, sitting back down across from them.

“Whatever.” Cassidy rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t matter anyway. You’re not going to be with her for much longer. We’ll see to that.”

“How?” Andy asked, genuinely curious as to what the twins would do.

“We’ll tell her that we hate you. That you were mean to us. We’ll cry. She’ll get rid of you. She won’t stay with you if we tell her we don’t want her to.”

“Really? You’d do that?”

“Really.” Caroline affirmed, staring directly at Andy. Andy stared back. They were locked into a staring contest for a few minutes before Andy finally blinked.

“Ha! See. You’re such a loser that you can’t even win a staring contest.” Caroline laughed and Cassidy joined in with her.

Andy looked at the twins, her mind running over things quickly. “Ok. You guys don’t like me. You don’t want me to date your mother. But I care about her, and I want to date her. So… how about a little competition?”

The girls’ eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“We’ll have a competition. Five different… games or challenges. The best out of five wins.”

“Wins what?”

“Well, if you win, then I will break it off with your mom.” Smiles broke out on their faces at that. “But, if I win, then I get to keep on seeing her, and you guys can’t say anything about it. And you have to be nice to me. Deal?”

The twins looked at her, then looked at each other. “We need rules. Something that can’t be broken.”

“A contract.”

“Okay.” Andy nodded. “Do you have paper? We’ll write it up now.”

Caroline ran up the stairs to get some paper, while Cassidy sat and continued to stare at Andy. “You’re going to lose.” She said simply.

“We’ll see.” Andy smiled.

**

It took them over an hour, and several drafts, before they had a contract that all three agreed upon. After Cassidy took the hand written notes and typed it out on the computer, all three of them signed it to make it official. Included on the back of the contract was a tally sheet, to keep track of who had won what challenges. It was decided that the twins would be the keepers of the contract, but that Andy could request to see it at any time.

When they finished, Andy looked at the clock. “So, I think we have time for our first challenge yet tonight. You two game?”

The girls looked at each other and nodded vigorously. “Bring it on.”

**

**01 – I scream, you scream…**

The entire island counter was covered with ice cream and toppings in various bowls. On one side, Andy sat with an empty bowl. On the other, the twins sat with an empty bowl between them. They were, once again, staring at each other. “You ready?”

Andy nodded. “Okay. On your mark, get set, go!”

They all flew into action. Andy grabbed the nearest container of ice cream and began scooping. Three scoops was the amount they had decided on. She quickly put them into the bowl. The girls were behind, but not by much, and when it came time for the toppings, two hands were definitely better than one. Still, Andy was sprinkling nuts and pouring chocolate sauce like a pro, and when it came time for the cherry, both ‘teams’ dropped it on at the same time.

The sundaes were complete. The only thing left to do was to eat them. The girls quickly tore into their sundae, each starting at opposite ends of the bowl. They were certain they had this challenge in the bag. After all, there were two of them eating, compared to only one of Andy. And it was ice cream, something they actually liked to eat.

They had made it through two scoops and were just about to start on the third when they heard the sound of a spoon clinking in a bowl. They glanced up to see Andy sitting there, watching them. Their eyes widened as they took in her empty bowl.

“How – how did you… how did you eat all that?” Caroline felt like her eyes were about to bug out.

Andy just grinned. “I’ve been eating ice cream for a lot more years than you have. And I’m pretty sure I get to eat it a lot more often than you two do.” She flashed them a smile and a wink. “Sorry, girls. Looks like round one goes to me.”

They each sighed, but they couldn’t argue with her. She had beaten them fair and square.

Caroline used a green Sharpie to make the first check in Andy’s column.

A – 1, C&C – 0

**

It was over a week until the next challenge occurred. Andy had dinner at the Priestly house once in that time frame, and it was slightly less awkward than the first meeting with the girls. They had both groaned and rolled their eyes when Miranda announced that Andy would be staying for dinner and during dinner they had studiously ignored Andy. But at least they hadn't yet told their mother that they hated Andy and she would have to pick between her and them. For that, Andy was grateful.

It was at dinner that the time for the next challenge presented itself. Miranda announced that she would be gone on a business trip the upcoming weekend. After dinner, she headed to her study, expecting Andy to follow. She did, but not before whispering to the twins, "Friday night at 6. Be ready. I'll pick you up."

**

**02 – Get your mind out of the gutter**

It was only after the first frame that Andy realized that the twins had probably never been bowling before in their lives. For her, it was a normal thing to do on a Friday night growing up in Ohio, and even now she would still occasionally meet Lily and Doug for a couple games on a Friday or Saturday night that they all had free. She had never considered the fact that the twins wouldn't have had the same experiences as she had, although she should have. After all, growing up as the daughter of Richard and Amanda Sachs in Ohio was very different than growing up as the daughters of Miranda Priestly in New York.

Still, the twins had said nothing to her, and the contract clearly stated that a challenge had to be disputed before it began. If she had to hazard a guess, she would say that the twins had probably been too enthralled by the whole experience so far to question it. She'd picked them up and taken them on the subway, which they'd both wrinkled their noses at, yet seemed to enjoy once they actually got on the train. Then when they'd arrived, they'd been shocked to learn that they would have to rent shoes. After a much more minimal amount of complaints than she thought she'd hear, they had each put the shoes on. Picking out a ball for each of them had been another adventure, although by that point, the girls had seemed almost excited by the whole thing, moving around the bowling alley, looking at all the various sizes and colors of the balls before Caroline had picked a sleek blue one and Cassidy a shiny pink one. Andy had picked out her standard bright yellow ball, which both the girls had giggled at. She had said nothing, merely smiled and managed a spare on her first turn.

She did feel bad though, watching as the girls' balls continually ended up in the gutter or only nicked a pin or two. She wasn't a master bowler by any means, in fact, she usually lost when she bowled with Lily and Doug, but she found herself miles ahead of both girls by the fifth frame.

"Have you guys really never been bowling before?"

"No." Both Caroline and Cassidy answered defensively.

"Never? Not even at a birthday party when you were little?"

"Our friends don't bowl." Caroline said the word 'bowl' as though it was completely beneath her. Andy thought she'd been taking lessons from Miranda.

"Oh. Well, okay then." Andy considered just going back to creaming them, but changed her mind. She was trying to become friendlier with the girls after all. "Do you guys want some tips on how to keep the ball out of the gutter?"

"No." Caroline said, haughtily.

"Yes!" Cassidy replied at the same time.

Andy bit back a grin. "Okay, Cass, why don't you come up here with me? Caroline, you can just hang out back here."

Cassidy followed her up to the beginning of the lane. Caroline tried to pretend as though she wasn't interested, but found herself getting closer and closer to Andy and her sister as she watched them interact.

"Okay, you want to focus on rolling the ball toward those arrow marks. And you don't need to fling the ball as hard as you have been. You want a strong release, but not so crazy. That's why it's ending up in the gutter so much. Just be smooth with your release. And don't release with all your fingers at once. Release with your thumb first, and then your other two fingers together. That'll make it hook, for a better shot at hitting the pins, okay?"

Cassidy squinted down the lane, thinking over what Andy had said, before she nodded. "Okay."

"Good. You ready to try now?"

"Yep."

Andy turned and nearly walked into Caroline. She said nothing, just smiled and went to sit back down on the chairs. Caroline frowned, blushed, and went back as well.

The last five frames went much better for the girls than the first five, but even after Andy purposely sent her ball into the gutter on the last two frames, she was still ahead at the end of the game.

The girls were silent for a while after her victory. Then Cassidy spoke up. "You won. We'll give it to you." She blinked. "Can we play another game… just for fun?"

Andy smiled widely. "Absolutely."

A – 2, C&C - 0

**

The girls had decided that they would pick the next challenge, and Andy couldn't blame them. If she won it, the whole competition was over. She secretly hoped they would pick something she was good at, although she had a feeling that they would purposely pick something difficult.

Once again, there was a pretty decent amount of time between the challenges. The three had an unspoken agreement that they wouldn't do the challenges around Miranda. The girls didn't want the wrath of their mother if she found out they were competing over her love life, and Andy somehow felt like telling Miranda she was competing with her children to make sure she could continue seeing her wouldn't really go over all that well. So the three agreed that all challenges would take place while Miranda was away.

It was a week and a half later, on a Wednesday night, when Andy's phone at The Mirror rang.

"New York Mirror, Sachs."

"Mom's gotta work late tonight. We told Cara that she could go home, Mom was sending someone else to watch us." Andy was pretty sure it was Cassidy on the line. She looked at the half written article on her computer, then the clock in the bottom corner. It was nearly six.

"How late?"

"At least ten o'clock, probably later. You know Mom."

"Yeah." Andy certainly did. "And how are we going to explain to your mother why Cara is gone and I am at the house when she gets home?"

" _We_ aren't going to explain anything. _You_ are going to tell her that you came by to see her and felt bad for Cara so you sent her home."

"You've got this all figured out, don't you?"

"Be here by 6:30." Cassidy commanded in a voice that sounded eerily like her mother's. "And bring dinner."

Andy sighed and grabbed her flash drive, saving her article onto it. Hopefully she'd have time to finish it up after whatever challenge the twins had in store. Now she just had to figure out what to do about feeding them.

**

"What is that?" Caroline asked as she opened the door, eyeing the large brown bag Andy carried.

"Chinese."

"What?"

"Chi – don't tell me you've never had Chinese before!" Andy exclaimed.

"Mom says that anything from a street cart is disgusting and not to be digested."

"This isn't from a street cart." Andy retorted, walking toward the kitchen. "It is from a real, live, Chinese restaurant."

"What's that?" Cassidy asked, entering the kitchen.

Andy just rolled her eyes. "It is dinner. It is from a restaurant. It is your only option, unless you'd like to fend for yourselves, so… let's eat."

The girls looked at all the various containers with wide eyes.

"I didn't know what you guys liked, so I got a bunch of stuff. Apparently you don't know what you like either. But let's see… we've got egg rolls and spring rolls, wonton soup, chicken with broccoli, vegetable lo mein, shrimp fried rice, mu shu pork, and kung pao chicken. Take your pick."

Andy grabbed a pair of chop sticks and began to eat some chicken with broccoli. Cassidy bit her lip for a second before she reached forward and picked up an egg roll. She held it between her thumb and pointer finger and looked at it as though she expected it to bite her. Andy laughed. "Go ahead, Cass, try it."

Slowly Cassidy took a tentative bite. Andy watched as she chewed thoroughly and then finally swallowed. She raised her eyebrows in question. Cassidy grinned. "This is pretty good."

"Wait until you try the lo mein. It's to die for!"

Cassidy took her egg roll with her as she moved to get silverware from a drawer. She sat back at the island countertop and grabbed the carton of lo mein, twirling some around her fork. "Oooh, this is good!"

"Told you." Andy looked over at Caroline. "Food's gonna get cold, Caroline."

Caroline let out a long-suffering sigh and moved over to the island. The three ate in silence for a while, picking out of the various containers, until Cassidy broke the silence. "Andy? Would you teach me to eat with chop sticks?"

"Sure." Andy smiled. She handed Cassidy a pair of the chopsticks. "What about you, Caroline? You want to try?"

Caroline didn't acknowledge her, but she did take a pair of chopsticks. Andy smiled wider at that.

For the next fifteen minutes Andy tried to teach the girls to use the chopsticks. It wasn't something that was easy, and it had taken her a while to master them, but the girls were doing an admirable job. More food ended up back in the cartons or on the countertop than in their mouths, but compared to Andy's first time, they were doing great.

When both girls let out small giggles, Andy felt like she could win any challenge they had in store for her that evening.

**

**03 – I can be your hero, baby**

Andy had never been musically inclined growing up. She had taken three years of piano before her parents finally gave in to the fact that their daughter was gifted in other areas besides music. She could still pick out 'Heart and Soul', but that was the extent of her musical talent. Still, this did not deter her at all when the twins pulled her to their entertainment room, handed her a fake guitar, and put Guitar Hero: World Tour into the video game console.

She knew about Guitar Hero. Who didn't know about Guitar Hero? She had even watched Doug play it before. But she herself had never played. Still, it couldn’t be that hard right? All she had to do was strum and push the buttons. Anybody could do this. And when Cassidy, who was playing for the twins, had told her she could pick the song and that she could play it on easy while Cassidy played on medium, well… Andy was sure she had the competition in the bag. Part of her was beginning to wonder if the twins were throwing the competition because they'd begun to like her. The thought made her smile.

She debated, going back and forth between 'Heartbreaker' and 'Livin' on a Prayer' before she finally picked 'Heartbreaker' when Cassidy let out a sigh.

Just before Cassidy hit the button to start the song, Andy said, "You know, if I win this, it's all over."

Cassidy grinned wickedly, a look she'd surely picked up from her mother. "Oh, I know." She clicked the button and the song started.

Andy would never again make fun of Doug for being lame at Guitar Hero, she decided as she frantically tried to push the buttons and strum. She was hitting a note once out of every five or so, if she was lucky, and Cassidy, it seemed, had yet to miss one. It was much harder than it looked, trying to coordinate her strumming hand and the fingers that were pushing the buttons. Plus, she was distracted by the song, wanting to sing along with it, but being unable to keep her concentration when she did. She let out a "shit!" when she missed a whole string of notes, and both Cassidy and Caroline burst out laughing at her.

The song had barely passed 2 minutes but it felt like she had been playing forever. "This is the longest song in history!" She complained, finally just putting the guitar down and watching Cassidy. When the song was finally over, the game declared Cassidy the winner. Andy sighed.

"Not as easy as it looks, huh?" Caroline smirked.

"Not exactly."

Later that night, Caroline pulled the contract out, happily placing the first check mark in their column.

A – 2, C&C – 1

**

The next time Andy heard from the girls, it was through email, a fact that surprised her because she didn't think they even had her email address. But the email with the subject line 'Challenge' was there in her inbox, plain as day. She clicked it and quickly read through it, her hand already going to her phone to make a call.

**

**04 – You spin me right round, baby right round**

Velocity 17 was a go-kart track in Maywood, New Jersey. How the twins knew about it, Andy didn't know. But they had made it very clear that a go-kart race was to be the next challenge and that it had to be that coming weekend. They were supposed to be with their father, but they had convinced him to let them go to a friend's birthday party before being dropped off to him. Andy marveled at the ease with which they could manipulate the man.

Andy called Doug to borrow his car, which had led to him tagging along, a fact that Andy was sort of grateful for. Sort of. He kept the twins entertained while Andy drove, which was a good thing. It was a bad thing that the way he kept them entertained was by telling embarrassing stories about Andy when she was younger.

The ride only took about half an hour and before the car was even in park, the girls bounded out of it, heading for the building and the indoor track.

"You sure about this, Andy?" Doug asked as they followed along behind the two red heads.

Andy wasn't quite sure what 'this' referred to, but she nodded anyway. "Yeah, I'm sure."

After watching a ten minute safety video, the girls were taken to their go-karts. Doug stayed back to watch the race with the other spectators. A large electronic score board showed the racing stats for the fans and racers to see.

The flag dropped and everyone took off, working their way around the twisting track that had been designed by Formula 1 racers. Caroline and Cassidy both put the pedal to the medal and took the twists and curves at almost dangerous speeds. Andy found herself watching them, trying to be sure that they weren't going too fast or taking the turns too sharp. She stayed just behind them the entire race, and even when she had the opportunity to pass them, she just couldn't bring herself to take it.

In the end, the electronic leader board and the computer printouts each racer was given showed the results. Doug snapped a picture of the three of them, with the girls grinning triumphantly and Andy smirking in a 'what can I say?' kind of pose.

Caroline took great pleasure in having Andy make the mark in their column this time.

A – 2, C&C – 2

**

After the go-kart race, the girls seemed to warm up even more to Andy. Caroline was still standoffish, but it wasn't open contempt like it had been before. Dinners with Miranda and the girls went much better, at least in Andy's opinion, and she found herself settling in to the relationship with all three women. The last challenge wasn't mentioned by either party for a while after the go-kart race, so much so, that Andy nearly forgot about it.

**

The morning after Andy spent the night with Miranda with the girls in the house for the first time, she awoke to find Miranda already gone. It was a Saturday and Miranda was supposed to have the day off, but apparently she had been called in to Runway. She stretched out in the large bed before finally getting up and pulling on a pair of pajama bottoms and an old Northwestern t-shirt she had brought along in her bag.

She headed for the kitchen, smiling when she found coffee already brewed. She poured herself a cup and then began to dig around in the refrigerator, looking for something to eat. The cook was off on the weekends. She pulled out the eggs and began to whip herself up an omelet.

It was almost done when Caroline and Cassidy entered the kitchen. "Andy? What are you doing?"

It had the potential, Andy knew, to be a weird situation, finding her in their kitchen in her pajamas. But Andy was determined it wouldn't be. She smiled at them. "Making breakfast. You guys hungry? I could make you something."

"Like what?" Caroline asked suspiciously.

"Scrambled eggs, fried eggs, eggs sunny side up, an omelet…"

"Pancakes?" Cassidy asked.

"Do you guys have pancake mix?"

"Yeah." Cassidy went to the pantry and pulled out the Bisquick. Andy nearly laughed at the sight of such a 'plebian' item in the Priestly pantry, but managed to hold herself in check.

"Well then, looks like I can make pancakes."

"Cool." Cassidy grinned.

"Caroline, what about you?"

Caroline looked Andy up and down before she answered. "French toast."

Andy considered for a moment. "Does your mother even keep bread in the house?" Carbs were the enemy after all.

Caroline went and removed a loaf of bread from the bread box. Andy took it from her, still studying the girl. "You'll have to wait until I finish Cassidy's pancakes. Is that okay?"

Caroline climbed up on a stool and nodded. Both girls watched as Andy moved around the kitchen, mixing up the pancakes and the mixture for the French toast. She seemed totally at ease, pouring the batter into perfect circles, knowing exactly when to flip them, and flipping them perfectly as well. She soon had a plate full of three pancakes ready for Cassidy and Caroline's pieces of French toast going.

"Where'd you learn to cook like this?" Cassidy asked as she took her first bite of pancake.

Andy smiled. "I dated a chef for three years. Breakfast was the only thing I managed to pick up." She flipped the pieces of French toast. "Plus, when you're on a budget, you learn to eat cheap. Eggs, bread, milk – they're all staples that aren't that expensive."

"Hmm." Cassidy hummed, eating her pancakes. "How often… I mean… did you have to…"

Andy smiled. "Things got better after I started working for your mom. Before that," she shrugged, "I ate a lot of breakfast. And grilled cheese."

"We've never had to –"

"No. I'm sure you haven't. And that is a good thing." Andy smiled at Cassidy. "But wait until you hit college. Even if you have money, you'll be too busy to eat properly. Then you'll know what it's like."

Cassidy seemed appeased by this, and went back to eating her pancakes. Andy chanced a glance over at Caroline and found that she was watching her, staring at her. Andy locked eyes with her. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Andy raised an eyebrow at her. Caroline nodded once, then glanced over at Cassidy. She looked at the two of them, and then nodded.

"You're sure?"

"Yes." Caroline nodded.

**

**05 – Don’t blink**

The challenge was unspoken, but mutually agreed upon. It seemed fitting, since it all had started here, and now would end, one way or the other, here as well.

"I'll count you guys down." Cassidy offered. Andy and Caroline closed their eyes. "One… two… three."

Their eyes opened and locked. They stared at each other. Seconds ticked by and the two were aware of nothing but each other. Cassidy noticed when Miranda entered the kitchen, but neither of them did. They were too lost in the competition to take notice of anything. They remained stone still, unblinking, even as Miranda scrutinized both of them. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Caroline's eyelids slid shut. Andy's eyes widened a fraction. "You blinked."

"What? No, I –"

"You did. You blinked."

"No!" Caroline shook her head, vehemently, but both of them knew that she had.

"You blinked." Andy said softly, smiling.

Miranda cleared her throat. Both jumped and looked over at her. "Miranda," Andy smiled, but it faltered when she saw the look on Miranda's face. Something was strange.

"Girls, go upstairs. I need to talk to Andrea."

"Okay." Both girls hopped off their stools and headed up the steps. They both went to Caroline's room, where the contract was hidden in a drawer. She pulled it out and laid it on the desk. It was fairly worn from flipping through and reading. She turned to the tally sheet. Cassidy watched as she placed a red mark in Andy's column.

A – 3, C&C – 2

**

They waited fifteen minutes before they headed back downstairs. They found their mother sitting in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee, alone. Their dishes were cleared, as was all the evidence of Andy making breakfast. "Where's Andy?" Cassidy asked.

Miranda looked up at them. "Andrea is… gone."

"What?" Caroline asked, her hands tightening on the paper she was carrying.

"We have decided to part ways. It will be easier to –"

"No." Caroline said loudly. "No, not we. You. You decided. Andy didn't decide. Andy wouldn't – "

Miranda looked at her as though she had never seen her before. "I had assumed that you two would be happy about this. After all, you have made your contempt of Andrea very well known."

Caroline's eyes found the floor at that. But Cassidy kept her gaze on her mother. "Why?"

"It is better for everyone involved." It wasn't an explanation. It was a defense.

Caroline shook her head. "No." She said softly, turning and walking out of the kitchen. Cassidy followed her.

That night, Caroline slept clutching the contract, and Cassidy fell asleep with her eyes trained on the picture of the three of them at the go-kart track.

**

It was a week later that Andy arrived at work on a Saturday morning to find Caroline and Cassidy standing outside The Mirror building. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Can we talk?"

They went to a small diner not far from The Mirror. It was very reminiscent of the days when Andy had first started coming to the townhouse – they all sat in silence. Finally Andy broke it. "How's your mom?"

"Fine. She went out with this lawyer last night." Cassidy supplied.

"He's a total loser." Caroline said quickly.

"Hey, you never know. Maybe once you get to know him, you'll change your mind." Andy smiled softly, trying to convey a message that neither of the girls wanted to listen to. Just because they'd changed their mind about her didn't mean they do it again about anyone else.

"No." Caroline said adamantly. "He's a loser, and she's an idiot."

"Caroline!" Andy's voice was harsh, the first time they'd ever heard it sound like that. "Don't speak about your mother that way."

"Do you miss her?" Cassidy asked quietly after they'd sat in silence for a few moments.

Andy closed her eyes. "Every second of every day. But… I'm used to missing her by now." They knew she was referring to the time after Paris. "What I'm not used to," she swallowed, "is missing you two."

A tear slipped down Cassidy's cheek. "Andy…"

Andy smiled at her, reached out and squeezed her hand. "You two should be getting home. And I need to get to work."

They stood up to leave. Andy tossed some money on the table. Cassidy looked at her. "Do you think maybe we could –"

"I don't think it would be a good idea, Cass."

Cassidy nodded and walked out of the diner, heading toward home. Caroline stayed back with Andy, looking at her. "Andy?"

Andy turned and looked at Caroline, the twin that had always held the most contempt for her. "What Caroline?" She asked softly.

"I – " Tears were gathering in her blue eyes. "I blinked on purpose."

Andy felt her heart clench, but before she could reply, the red headed girl was out the door, taking off down the street at a run. Andy wanted to call out to her, to run after her, but knew she couldn't. Instead, she let a few tears fall down her cheeks, then took a deep breath and headed to work.

**

It was Caroline who finally addressed the situation a week after the failed breakfast with Andy. She charged into her mother's study, uninvited which was a huge no-no, clutching two newspapers.

"You," she breathed out heavily as she waved the newspapers at her mother, "are an idiot!" Even as the words flew out of her mouth and she watched her mother's eyes widen, it was Andy's voice she heard in her head. _Caroline! Don't speak about your mother that way._

"I beg your pardon?" Miranda's voice was icy, and any other time, in any other circumstance, Caroline would've tucked tail and run. But not this time. This time the stakes were too high.

"You're an idiot." She repeated, throwing one of the papers down on the desk in front of her mother. It was the current day's paper, turned to Page Six and showing a picture of Miranda out on the town with the loser lawyer again. "Look at you."

Miranda stared at her, disbelieving.

"Look at you." She insisted again, tapping the picture angrily with her finger. "You look miserable!"

And although she opened her mouth to do so, Miranda found she couldn't deny it. It wasn't obvious to just anyone, but to the girls and to herself, it was. She didn't just look miserable, she _was_ miserable.

"And look at you here," Caroline demanded as she tossed another paper, this one older, onto the desk.

She didn't need to look at the picture for more than a second to know what it was. It was of her and Andrea, coming out of a matinee, laughing together. She'd adored that picture and had called the newspaper to procure a copy of it for herself.

"Caroline –"

"And look at us!" Caroline cut her off, tossing down the last thing she held, the picture she had taken from Cassidy's room of the twins and Andy at the go-kart track.

Miranda's mouth closed quickly as she took in the photo that she'd never seen. "What – what is this?"

"You said it was better for everyone. You said we'd be happy. We're not happy. You're not happy. And none of us will be until you get her back. So stop being an idiot, and get her back!" And with that, Caroline left the office in a flurry of activity, just as she'd entered it, leaving the three pictures and a very confused Miranda in her wake.

**

Andy walked out of The Mirror offices and stopped dead in her tracks. There, at the curb, was a familiar black towncar and standing beside it was the even more familiar sight of Miranda Priestly.

"M-Miranda."

"Andrea," she said quietly, looking over the brunette, "would you take a ride with me?"

Andy blinked and swallowed. "Um, oh, well… sure?" Her response came out more like a question than an answer, but Miranda took it as one, opening the door for her.

They rode in silence for a few minutes before Miranda finally spoke. "It would seem that I am an idiot, at least according to my daughter."

Andy's eyes widened and she turned to look at Miranda. "What?"

"Caroline believes I am an idiot for letting you go and that for any of us to be happy, I need to get you back. Which is surprising to me, because I had thought that my children couldn't stand you."

"People change." Andy shrugged, unwilling to discuss the challenge and the contract, especially now.

"Yes, around you people seem to change quite frequently, Andrea."

"Miranda, I –"

Miranda cut her off. "Caroline, for whatever she lacked in manners, is correct. I find myself quite unhappy without you."

"You – you do?"

"I do." Miranda stared at Andy. "My daughters assure me that I can win you back. That all I need to do is blink. Would you care to explain that to me, Andrea?"

A smile broke out on Andy's face as Miranda allowed her eye lids to slip closed. "No," she smiled, kissing Miranda, "but they're right."  



End file.
